Luke 1:39-45 How Can This Be? (Part II)

Luke 1:39-45  How Can This Be? (Part II)

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Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greetings… she cried out in a loud voice and said…“How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

As we get closer to Christmas, it’s very important that we get closer to Christ; not further away. 

This morning, prior to the 8:00 am Mass, I overheard a gentleman ask a woman, “How is your Christmas going?”  She said to him, “Don’t even ask!” 

Christmas can be a very stressful time of year.  In fact, it can be worse than homework or work!  There’s so much to do and so little time to do it.  We have so many places to go, so many meals to prepare, so many gifts to buy!  How can we avoid the stress, the anxiety and the panic attacks?  So what was Mary’s secret?  What was Elizabeth’s secret.  How did Joseph and Zechariah handle their world turning upside down?   How did they preserve their mental health? 

The secret resides in four simple words:  “How can this be?”

They all said it.  Now it is our turn to say it. 

How can this be?  In this short statement, we find it all:  Humility; Surprise and Wonder; Faith and Obedience.  Think about it.  How can this be?...  Is this not an expression of humility?  Is it not also an expression of surprise and wonder?  Finally, within this question do we not find a profession of faith and obedience; for when Mary and Elizabeth said this, had they not already accepted it?

The more modern way of saying “How can this be?” would be “Why me?”   I think this is a great way to start off our day.  This is how we should examine our life every single day, by starting off with the words:  Why me?  Let’s ask it, not out of desperation or out of resentment, but exactly the same way Mary, Elizabeth, Joseph and Zechariah asked it:  with wonder; with amazement, with faith and obedience!

Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will (Heb 10:5-10).  I’ve always asked myself what kept our main characters from going insane.  Why didn’t Mary or Elizabeth (or Joseph and Zechariah) go nuts?  Why didn’t any of them grow worried sick?  How did they keep it all together?  The answer is simple and remarkable:  It was never about them!

No wonder why so many of us suffer from mental illness.  No wonder why we get panic attacks!  No wonder why we are stressed!  Am I busting my behind, breaking my neck, working like a dog for my will to be done? Or am I living my life that God's Will and God's Work be done? [Remember:  God's Will always includes God and neighbor.]

Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will (Heb 10:5-10).  Let's turn the tables on ourselves and make it God's Will, not our will.  Let's do God's Work, not our work.  Let's accomplish God's mission, not our mission. 

The Mother of God went out of her way to visit the mother of John the Baptist.  Elizabeth was shocked that the Mother of God would come to her.  Mary was shocked that the Son of God would be conceived in her!  Elizabeth pointed her finger at Mary and said look at you.  Mary pointed her finger at Jesus and said to Elizabeth look at him.  Little John the Baptist leaped from his womb not for himself but for the Son of God.  And the Son of God, from the manger looked up to His Heavenly Father.  It was never about them.

The best way to live life is the same way we should live Christmas.  It’s never been about looking inward or in a mirror.  It’s always been about looking outward or out of a window.  Stop looking in the mirror!  Look out the window.  There you will see a star that is humbling, amazing and shocking.  It will remind us of who we should follow and where we should go.  This star will lead us to the Son of God.

Our mission in life was not conceived by our parents or friends or even by our school.  Our mission in life was conceived the same way we were conceived:  by God. 

Now that is something worth rejoicing in!